Remembering D-Day: 70 Years Later

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Normandy is, hands down, one of the best places in all of Europe. When my family traveled to Europe during the summer of 2012, we stopped in the Normandy region for almost a week. My parents were engaged in Honfleur, France, a small seaside village in Normandy, and we were able to visit the exact location where my Dad proposed to my Mom. Fortunately, Honfleur was spared of bombing and damage during World War II.

Normandy was the infamous site of the D-Day Invasion that occurred 70 years ago yesterday. June 6, 1944 marked a turning point of World War II. Canadian, French, British, and American troops as well as many other countries stormed 5 different beaches on this day, eventually reclaiming the coastline and major cities of France. The western front was opened and the Allied troops continued pressing into mainland Europe. This was the beginning of the end for the Axis powers.

The area of Normandy is such a juxtaposition for me. How could a place so extremely beautiful, so idyllic, and so peaceful have been the site of one of the biggest and deadliest battles of World War II? The Battle of Normandy, which began with the D-Day Invasion, lasted almost 2.5 months in which almost half a million Allied and German troops died. There is something breathtaking and religious about this area. It was hard and difficult for me to imagine hundreds of soldiers scaling the cliffs of Normandy to protect my future freedom. That’s what makes this place so special and so patriotic.

If you’ve never visited Normandy, I highly recommend it. Between the 5 beaches (Juno, Omaha, Gold, Sword, and Utah), the small cities connecting these beaches (I recommend Bayeux, the first city liberated by Allied troops), and Pointe du Hoc, you’ll never run out of anything to do. The museum at Omaha Beach is especially moving. Furthermore, the scenery of Normandy looks like it is out of a painting.

I can’t wait to go back to this region for a week in August! Enjoy these moving pictures.

Omaha Beach, the main invasion point for the Americans is now the American Cemetery.

The Star of David headstones for the Jewish soldiers who perished at Normandy.

I absolutely love this quote by General Eisenhower.

The eyes of the world are upon you…I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.

A wreath from British veterans to the American soldiers.

You can manufacture weapons and you can purchase ammunition, but you can’t buy valor and you can’t pull heroes off an assembly line.

I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never Perish.

My sisters and I at Gold Beach in the city of Arromanches-les-Bains.

Wreaths at Gold Beach honoring the British soldiers

Gold Beach, the main invasion point by the British during D-Day.

I‘d highly recommend that everyone visits Normandy and the D-Day beaches at least once in their life. I didn’t have any relatives in the D-Day Invasion but when you’re on Omaha Beach, the enormity of everything just hits you. These men, these boys, gave up their lives for my freedom. God Bless America.